Any Reviews of R2 Bob Hope's Cat and the Canary DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Henry V]

Calling all Britains! Has anyone over on that side of the pond yet seen the R2 release of the Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard horror/comedy classic CAT AND THE CANARY (1939)? I've done an online search for any reviews but I've come up empty and since the company Orbit Media has something of a rep as a public domain specialist, I was wondering if anyone has yet seen this release and can comment on it's visual quality?

 

[Anthony Neilson]

All I can tell you is that the Orbit releases of the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films are a total disgrace - they truly look no better than VHS - and they charge top dollar for them too. I've no reason to believe THE CAT AND THE CANARY would be any better. They are, indeed, total Public Domain Cowboys. I'd certainly recommend that you hold off buying until you hear VERY trustworthy evidence to the contrary.

 

[Derek_McL]

Yes I was disappointed by Orbit's Road To Rio (1947) too though I got it a lot cheaper than RRP and I love the film. Sad to hear their Sherlock Holmes' films are so bad looks like the VCI region 1s are the way to go there.

 

[Mark Oates]

I've got a copy of Cat and the Canary, and I have to say it's pretty horrible. It looks like a home dupe from a VHS cassette, to be honest. During the first quarter of the movie there are frequent videotape artefacts that manifest themselves as colour-banded dropouts. The picture is generally fuzzy and slightly misframed so that the edges of titles are missing. The sound is no better than you could expect it to be and extras are nonexistent. I'm stinging a little from paying full price (£11.99), and the best I can say is "at least it's on a disc".

 

[Anthony Neilson]

Yes - Mark's description could equally be applied to the Holmes discs. Don't give these people your money. The R1 Holmes discs are the only way to go.

 

[John Hodson]

The final two of the MPI (not VCI ) restorations, have appeared at dvdsoon.com for pre-order, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Hound of The Baskervilles, at $19.98 CAD delivered.

On the subject of PD, Mrs H recently spotted a PD disc of John Ford's Judge Priest for the princely sum of £1 (the same disc is £7.99 at play.com), and, knowing me to be a Ford fan, bought it. I can honestly say that the quality is such that it was vastly overpriced. Still, the case may come in useful.

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So many films, so little time...

 

[oscar_merkx]

well for only a pound you cannot go wrong. At least you got a case out of it

 

[Page]

Damn!

I bought this DVD, also, but I haven't opened it yet.

(I wonder if it's worth my time and money to return it from the USA to England.)